Mayor Suprawito gets tough on sand quarrying

Mayor Suprawito gets tough on sand quarrying

JAKARTA (JP): North Jakarta Mayor H. Suprawito threatened
yesterday to revoke the licenses of companies which disobey
warnings not to continue illegal sand quarrying in the Thousand
Islands at Jakarta Bay.

Suprawito said his office had sent warning notices to
companies found quarrying outside their permitted areas, and some
that were quarrying without permits.

"Many companies have broken their agreements by crossing the
sand quarrying areas allotted them by the city," he said.

If the warnings do not work and the companies keep quarrying
illegally, the city will revoke their licenses, he said.

Suprawito declined to name the companies, or say how many had
been warned by the city.

He only named one name, privately owned PT Rukindo, which has
been ordered to stop sand quarrying in the Thousand Islands.

"Sand quarrying has been going on for years, since before I
become mayor," he said.

"And my office is certainly trying hard to stop it."

Suprawito was responding to a charge made by some city
councilors recently, that he was too lenient on sand quarrying in
the islands.

The councilors said that sand quarrying was believed to have
caused the disappearance of at least six of the Thousand Islands.

The six missing islands are reported as Pulau Ubi, Pulau
Damar, Pulau Laki, Pulau Nirwana, Pulau Dapur and Pulau Nyamuk.

Two of them, Pulau Laki and Pulau Nyamuk, were well known
homes to many birds species.

Suprawito said that the other four, Pulau Laki, Pulau Damar,
Pulau Ubi and Pulau Nirwana, had always been submerged at high
tide.

"So they disappear not just because of sand quarrying but
because of nature too," he said.

Councilor Saud Rachman of Commission D for development affairs
said earlier that three other small islands in the Thousand
Islands had become submerged because of illegal sand quarrying.

They are Gusung Laga, Gusung Karang and Gusung Kapas.

Suprawito said that his office had pledged to continue its
joint operation with police and customs officers to prevent and
take action against illegal sand quarrying and other illegal
activities on the Jakarta Bay water.

"This year alone, we have caught over 100 fisherman involved
in illegal fishing and activities such as sand quarrying," he
said.

Many of the suspects claimed they knew nothing of the dangers
of environmental destruction, but they ran away when we spotted
them in action, Suprawito said.

"So they must be pretending to be naive. And this kind of
action should be stopped," he said.

"We pity them because many of them are just trying to make a
living."

"But they are violating the rules, so they must be punished,"
he said. (07)